INVESTIGATOR DEVELOPMENT CORE ABSTRACT The Investigator Development Core (IDC) will provide a comprehensive career development program that will accelerate the growth of junior faculty and early stage investigators (ESI) into independent investigators. The IDC will implement a tri-faceted approach to investigator development that involves providing pilot seed-grant support, coordinating comprehensive career mentoring that includes both discipline-specific research and professional advancement mentoring, and offering professional development trainings relevant to early stage investigators (e.g., grantsmanship, scientific presentation skills, and the elements and processes involved in scientific writing). These three approaches are both feasible and effective for developing productive investigators who are successful at securing external funding for basic biomedical, clinical, and/or behavioral research on minority health and health disparities. The IDC represents a systematic and methodical program for Howard University to fast-track the development of junior faculty and early stage investigators into seasoned investigators. This tri-faceted approach covers the key areas that are most important to investigator development and promises to become a model for the development of Howard investigators well into the future. The IDC is a prescriptive response to an experiential institutional need. It should be noted that fulfilling this institutional need will play an important role in positioning and solidifying Howard University?s role as an important contributor and leader in minority health and health disparities research.